


How the Kaidanovskys got the nuke

by BaronVonChop



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 06:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4908058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaronVonChop/pseuds/BaronVonChop





	How the Kaidanovskys got the nuke

Marshall Pentecost has given the Kaidanovskys the task of acquiring an atomic bomb, and the Kaidanovskys are not ones to shrink from a tall order.

One by one, the Kaidanovskys go through their list of contacts who might have a nuke.

They visit the gangster in his mansion. The salt-and-pepper bristles on his chin have grown into a regrettable beard and his suit has sweat stains under the armpits. The war has dried up his profits. When he offers them champagne, it is the brand that is available at every corner liquor store. He takes off his sunglasses, wipes his perspiring forehead, and confesses that he sold his last nuke to a survivalist who has locked himself away in an underground bunker and rigged the bomb to detonate if a kaiju should ever breach the walls. He offers them coke before they go, and doesn’t even bother to pretend that it’s uncut. The Kaidanovskys decline.

They visit the old general in his Moscow apartment. He wears a dressing gown and sweatpants. He cuts his steel-gray hair close as a concession to his receding hairline. His medals line up in a glass case on the wall and his uniform hangs pressed and ready in the closet. He serves Sasha and Aleksis moonshine in plastic cups with faded Disney characters on them. The only nukes he once had access to were requisitioned by the army and used to destroy kaiju.

They visit the club owner in her penthouse. Her suit is perfectly tailored, her makeup minimal. She knows how to deal with lean times: everything she owns was made to last. She sits them down on a white sofa and brings them vodka in designer shot glasses. When they try to ask about her nuke, she turns the conversation to the old days, or to their mission, or to their television appearances. Aleksis gets increasingly irked and begins to stand up, but Sasha places a hand on his shoulder. They finally get the club owner to admit that she never had a nuke. It was a rumor she started to draw attention. Aleksis takes the vodka bottle with him when he leaves.

The admiral welcomes them to his house. His round belly pokes out under his t-shirt, and he has cat hair all over his jeans. His rotund wife brings them out some iced tea she made herself, with so much lemon and sugar that it is more like lemonade. The admiral lifts his beard and lets it drop onto his chest when they ask him about nukes. Stacker Pentecost is an old friend, the admiral explains, and the admiral has already told Pentecost the same thing he tells them now. There are no more nukes to be had.

When the Kaidanovskys return to the Shatterdome, they ask everyone for recommendations. Hu Wei suggests trying to contact Hannibal Chau before his brother Jin wisely points out that Chau would never keep something around that could be used to blow kaiju to pieces, and Cheung clarifies that nukes would put Chau out of business. Herc and Chuck Hansen shrug apologetically, but Jaegers are their world, and atomic bombs seem antiquated by comparison. Tendo Choi is just impressed that the Kaidanovskys had a list of contacts who might have a nuke.

Sasha and Aleksis exchange a glance. They had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. They know someone the admiral doesn’t, someone with a bomb. The connoisseur, it is said, always gets what he wants.

Perhaps, Sasha says, there is something they could trade to the connoisseur in exchange for the bomb. Aleksis knows the connoisseur’s reputation well enough to know what he would want. Aleksis calls him a pervert, and ends the conversation there. He does not even want to think of what his wife would have to do to get the connoisseur to give up his nuke.

For the next few days, whenever Sasha tries to bring it up, Aleksis grows silent. Sasha reasons with him, reminding Aleksis of what is at stake, but he refuses to listen. She grows angry, tells him that he should have no say in it. She tries being gentle with him, reminding him that she loves only him.

Aleksis knows she is right. He knows that he should not be jealous, but that does not stop the red anger from rising in his chest when he thinks about the connoisseur. Sasha and Aleksis are drift compatible, and that means they have one of the strongest relationships on the planet. He has felt her love for him firsthand when they experienced the neural handshake together.

But his unreasoning rage and jealousy overpower his rational mind. Sasha means so much to him; he loves every muscle and bone in her body, and he cannot bear the thought of another man enjoying that body. What if she likes it? What if she hates it?

He knows it’s not up to him. He knows he should trust her.

He hates it anyway.

He knows his jealousy is hurting her.

That is what finally does it.

He hates it still. He grinds his teeth, hangs his head, and squeezes his hands into fists until his fingers hurt. But he will not be the one to stop Sasha Kaidanovsky from saving the world.

When he tells her, she does not say anything, only holds him until he relaxes. She is his, and he is hers.

They drive to the connoisseur’s warehouse-sized home. His assistant takes them up to his room. The halls of his complex are decorated with paintings and sculptures, as well as more unusual things. He owns antique board games, classic movies on celluloid, the bodies of several celebrity animals, and anything else that strikes his fancy.

When they meet him, he confirms that he owns a nuke. He is frank about what he wants in exchange.

Aleksis has already resigned himself, so he merely turns to leave.

The connoisseur stops him. Aleksis has misunderstood what he wants. The connoisseur clarifies.

Aleksis turns back as Sasha stares at him, waiting for his reaction.

For a long moment, Aleksis sits in silence. Then, suddenly, he bursts into relieved laughter, and waves Sasha out of the room.

The next day, the Kaidanovskys bring Stacker Pentecost his nuke.


End file.
